Down the Lena to Yakutsk

Across Siberia to America - Part 7.

If you’ve ever played Risk and wondered where Irkutsk and Yakutsk really are, now you know. For the previous episode, with links to earlier ones, see this:

From Tomsk to Irkutsk and the Lena River

After a brief stay in Irkutsk, Khvostov and Davydov have now made their way to the Kashug Pier, at the head of navigation of the Lena River. The Lena was, in a way, the main highway between Irkutsk and the principal town of Eastern Siberia, Yakutsk. Travel along the Lena was fastest in winter, over the ice on three-horse sledges called troikas. In summer (it was now late June), travel was by barge or riverboat.

Many of the rivers in Siberia, including the Lena, flow to the Arctic Ocean, so while their general direction of travel was to the northeast, our protagonists were travelling down the Lena. River travel can be emotionally evocative – the worst fate a student at Oxford can suffer is to be sent down (down the Thames, that is, back home to London), while a criminal defendant in New York City fears being sent “up the river,” that is, up the Hudson to the New York State Penitentiary at Ossining (Sing Sing).

Davydov noted in the previous installment that on their way down the river they would pass a string of post stations. But while the usual method of travelling post involved changing for fresh horses at each station, in summer on the Lena, the post stations were places at which travelers would hire relays of fresh rowers for their boats. This part of Davydov’s journal lists the post stations and streams they passed on their way down the river; I have omitted most of those.

Davydov begins this part of the narrative expressing pleasure at the leisure this boat trip afforded the travelers, but by the end, he complains of boredom, in his usual, deadpan fashion.

This episode introduces another new unit of measure: the sazhen, usually translated as fathom, and used in much the same way. It was about 6-1/2 feet.

DAVYDOV’S NARRATIVE (Cont’d)

On 28 June at 2pm, having loaded onto a barge, we shoved off from Kachug pier. At the 16th verst on the right, there is a very straight natural stone pillar on the bank. The Buryats thought that their god lived here, which is why they often came to him to perform some superstitious rituals, but as the Rus began settling near these places, the Buryats thought that their god had passed from this dwelling and hid far into the mountains.

On both banks of the Lena are scattered villages, consisting of two, three or generally a small number of huts.

In many provinces, something unusual is noted in the dialect of the language, and here even more so. Many words and expressions are so altered that it is not proper to pronounce some, and others cannot be recognized. As an example, instead of shouting, they say roar. Instead of sniffing tobacco, shuffle crumbs in the nose. Instead of yes, but. Instead of gunpowder, black grits. Instead of rowing with friends, with water, and so on.

[About 100 versts on] flows into the Lena the river Turuka, near the village of the same name, which has a church. The Lena at this time was beautiful: its varied banks, islands, villages scattered along the banks, and incessantly changing views, gave me pleasant diversion. In addition, the casual clothing, frequent bathing, freedom to read books, and various points of interest as we traveled along the banks, allayed the boredom of the slow journey.

[Another 135 versts or so farther,] Lena is enclosed here by high banks. Between them a strong headwind was blowing, against which we moved very quietly, and at times we were pinned to islands.

[After another 100 versts] is a beautiful place. For a rather large distance between two steep turns, the Lena is perfectly straight, so the banks toward the upper and lower bends merge with each other, and seems as if this straight stretch is fenced by high mountains on all sides. Above the river, many rows of ridges are visible, some are higher than others, and at the foot of the near one, there is an island. The banks of the Lena consist of high, almost rocky, mountains, slightly inclining towards the water. In front of the ridge on the left bank, the bend of the river is only visible when you come up to it. The river at this place is dotted with beautiful islets, which, along with the streams falling from the mountains, create a beautiful vista. Farther along the bank of the Lena becomes low, but many of the highest mountains open on it, of which one distant one looks like a dome.

This episode’s track is in orange.

The name of the village of Ust-Kut comes from the fact that it stands at the mouth of the river Kut [the prefix Ust- denotes the mouth of a river –JT.], falling into the left side of the Lena: it has a salt factory. At 11^th verst into the same side falls the small river Yakurim.

Local inhabitants showed themselves to me very senseless. If you ask if there is any stream ahead, they will say there is none. And then you will find out that there are three or four….

For a time, the current was so quiet that our craft had to be pulled down the river by horses.

The city of Kirensk lies at the confluence of the rivers Lena and Kireng, whose headwaters are very close to each other, for both of these rivers flow out of the mountains on the eastern side of Lake Baikal.

Kirensk is very poorly built, but has five churches, of which one is stone. Their unusual construction draws to them the attention of travelers.

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As soon as you pass the mouth of the Kireng, ­­the current becomes noticeably swifter and the water colder. From Kirensk to the bottom of the Lena the country is beautiful right up to the villages.

1 July

Between [two villages] there is a narrow place called Shchoki, that is, stone sheer cliffs, between which the Lena flows. Three cliffs are on both sides of the river; the height of the smallest one is about 70 sazhens, but the bank opposite to them is much lower everywhere. Some people believe that the cliffs come from the breakthrough of the river, when some ridge resists its force, but judging by the appearance of these, I cannot agree with this opinion as the river in this place – that is, right in front of the cliffs – turns almost at a hidden angle to the left, leaving on the right side a low place and a plain, which, to its forces, provided a smaller barrier than the ridge of mountains. And so we must look for another reason for this. Lena between the cliffs would seem to be expected to have a fast current, but it is just the same as before. We fired several shots between the cliffs, and the echo repeated them loudly.

To Vitim volost [parish]: This parish stands on the left side of Lena; opposite it falls in the large river Vitim, with three mouths. The first is 1 verst above the parish, the second opposite it, and the third 4 versts below. [N.B. This is about halfway from Irkutsk to Yakutsk –JT.]

It is known that the Alekminsk and Vitim sables are considered the best sables, that is, the ones trapped in the upper parts of these rivers. Both of them flow out of the Stanavoi ridge, and Vitim peak is located near the village of Yeraninsk, located not far from Nerchinsk.

Promyshlenniks [independent fur trappers] go in summer up these rivers, for most of the way hauling their boats with lines. They load them with food supplies and everything necessary for trapping and for spending the winter in the wilderness. These people are hired out by a specialized merchant, who provides them everything they need on credit. In winter they trap sables and other animals, and return home in the spring. The merchant with whom we stayed in the Vitim volost has a sable trade up the Vitim River. This man said, that the bank of the Vitim is rocky all the way to lake Aron, through which this river flows, at a distance of about 1000 versts from where it flows into the Lena. Lake Aron is 27 versts in length and from 5 to 8 versts in width, in the middle of it there is an island where you can have good haymaking and other amenities for a small village. A lot of good sterlets and other fish are caught in the lake.

In general, it should be noted about the Lena that on the right side there are many animals, whose skins are very valuable, but on the left there are very few. The locals think that there have recently been great rains on the upper Vitim, for the water in it has risen sharply. For this reason the current in the Lena itself has become dramatically swifter than usual, and one can hope that our ride will be faster.

The current from Vitim, due to the height of the waters, became so fast that from midnight to noon we traveled 131 versts, that is, the distance from the Vitim volost to Hamra.

[Over the next few days, we passed numerous small rivers flowing into the Lena, and a number of post stations as well.]

4 July

On the right, we passed a small river along which there are animal salt licks; and about 40 versts farther along there is a small river, to which the Yakuts and Tungus go to trap animals, as far as the head of the river Molva. On the right side of the mouth of the aforementioned river on the bank of the Lena, there is a mountain of red sand, which has crumbled so perfectly from the rains that it seems deliberately sculpted. There are three such mountains in a row, and several smaller ones, and all are very beautiful.

We reached the town of Alekminsk. In the city, including Yakut yurts, there are about 50 houses and one wooden church. The yurt is built in a quadrangular shape, by standing several inclined, hewn trees in the inside, the outside is covered with earth, and in most places with manure; the roof is made flat, and there is almost never a floor. In the middle there is a hearth, with a flue led out of thin poles, smeared with clay, which is called Chuval in these places. In winter, they always keep a fire in it, from which the yurt stays warm and dry, providing great comfort for travelers in a cruel climate where fire is absolutely necessary. Moreover, in these yurts they do not have the risk of carbon monoxide, to which most of the huts in these places are subject. The Lena is five versts wide opposite Aleklinsk. [The discrepancy in the name of this town is in the original ­– JT.]

We passed the large river Alekma, to the head of which they go to hunt beautiful sables and foxes.

5 July

The evening became beautiful, the tops of the high wild rocks, as we sailed past, gleamed with the last rays of the sun shining even beyond the mountain ranges. The sky began to darken; the stillness of the air was interrupted only by the sound of oars. Finally the night became very dark, thick, black clouds swirled over our heads; in the distance thunder rumbled dully and lightning flashed. These majestic phenomena, changing so suddenly from the gilded and magnificent into the gloomy and terrible, seemed to make similar changes in my soul. At the beginning I was driven into sweet thoughtfulness; I was glad that no one disturbed me as I drifted in reflections; but soon with the darkening of the sky, my thoughts darkened; human life seemed to me like the Lena, which flows between pleasant and unpleasant banks, inexorably on to the sea.

6 July

There might be some rivers that fall into the Lena on the right side, but since that is not the post road side; that is, as we are sailing along the Lena, we are not near that side; so the drivers do not know. From Vitim, or even much higher, to Yakutsk, all post stations are built on the left bank of the Lena. The river has become endlessly vast and majestic….

…For the third day a strong headwind was blowing, which made us sail very slowly.

Less than 3 versts from the station of Batamaisk begins an excellent view on the right bank. Along the slope of the mountains there are completely separated rocks, some of which look like pillars, others look like pyramids, and some look like collapsed buildings. And in the hollows, the cliffs scattered on both sides, seem to be gates or other images. The bank in this appearance continues for 20 versts and this place is called “Pillars.” All the creeks and rivers flowing into the Lena between these rocks, or pillars, are called stolbovki [posts]. Next come the sandy places, known as the Bearberry mountains. These end at the mouth of the river Batom.

The water in the Lena is exceptionally high, so we sometimes went through places where there are usually hayfields, now flooded to a depth of three sazhens [remember that one sazhen was about 6-1/2 feet, so Davydov is reporting almost twenty feet of water – JT.].

8 July

Our calm ride is coming to an end, of which we are glad, because we had become bored with the difficulty of making any movement. Before 11 o'clock, often at 6 or 7 o'clock, we had lunch, and we went to bed at one or two. All I did was read, or write something, and I certainly swam 3 or 4 times every day. The gadflies severely pestered us, and the mosquitoes even more. To drive them away, we were compelled to smoke constantly, but the medicine was hardly better than the disease.

9 July

[The final 23 versts to Yakutsk.]

Before I talk about Yakutsk, I will say a bit about the inhabitants of the Lena, and about the boats on which they travel this river.

The inhabitants settled in the lower Lena, especially between Alekminsk and Yakutsk, are very pitiful. The lack of farmland for growing vegetables, and in general a lack of all kinds of ways to feed themselves, makes them extremely poor, so there is no joy among them; they are always dull, and look unhealthy. On our way a pood of rye flour cost from 1 ruble 70 kopeks to 2 rub. 50 kop., and therefore most of the inhabitants used pine bark instead of bread, mixing a little flour and milk with it. Some families had no other food except pine bark and water. All these misfortunes seem to affect the judgment of these people, for whatever you ask them (excluding only the things closest to them), they always answer, I don't know, as if they had never seen anything except themselves and their huts. Despite the extreme poverty of these residents, there are sometimes travelers here who, considering themselves safe from complaints because of the remoteness of the region, not only don’t pay them traveling money, but also take money from them. In all fairness, it can be said about such people that they are crueler and more shameless than highwaymen.

Inhabitants along the Lena make boats or shuttles from poplar trees as follows: After hollowing out a tree, they steam it and then spread it to the boat’s width. Sometimes they extend it with boards, to make the boat wider. Some have built a sheath of sheathed boards with the help of wooden nails. The Yakuts make small boats, called vetochkami [twigs], from birch bark, sewing it together and then smearing it with resin.

From Irkutsk to Yakutsk is about 2500 versts. We covered the distance in 17 days; but we might have made it in a day or half a day less if we had not had five days of contrary winds.

Yakutsk stands on the left bank of the Lena, whose width here is 7 versts. In it are more than 300 houses, including Yakut yurts, and around 3000 inhabitants; there are six churches, of which three are stone. The city is not built according to any plan, and no decent buildings are visible at all. Near the city there is a wooden fortress with towers, built 160 years ago, but still very strong in spite of its antiquity.

Yakutsk occupies its third location. The first was 20 versts below the present site, but there the city was washed away by the river. It was founded by Russian fur trappers, followed by Cossacks. The second location was a little above the current one, but here it again washed away, for which reason the Cossack Senka Lazarev petitioned Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, delivering a letter asking for permission to move the city. After three years Senka Lazarev returned with his comrades and built the fortress, which is still standing today.

The name of Yakutsk comes from the Yakut, who live in the vicinity of the city, which is almost in the middle of the lands they occupy.

I must admit that the appearance of Yakutsk, whether from a distance or close by, does not correspond to the importance of its trade, of which it is the focus, because all the furs from  Northeastern Siberia, Kamchatka, and America go through this city, as do the goods sent to those places.

In the next installment: Chapter II of Davydov’s narrative begins. Khvostov and Davydov leave the river and undertake the difficult crossing of the Stanavoi Ridge toward the port of Okhotsk, where they expect to find a ship ready for them to sail to America. They will meet an array of characters and landscapes along the way.